A Denver federal jury awarded $383.5 million to the families of three patients who died of cardiac arrest after treatment at DaVita Dialysis Center. The jury granted each of the three parties $125 million in punitive damages and compensatory damages ranging from $1.5 million to $5 million.
The verdict was announced against the company over wrongful death due to the use of GranuFLo for treatment which caused toxic pH imbalances and alkalosis. The law firm representing the plaintiffs asserted that the dialysis provider was aware of the health risk associated with their product GranuFLo. DaVita officials plan to file a motion to overturn the verdict. In 2012, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a Class 1 recall of GranuFlo and wrongful deaths cases were filed against DaVita in the following year alleging negligence and fraud. Granuflo lawsuits were centralized in the District of Massachusetts as multidistrict litigation in 2013 (MDL No. 2428; In Re: Fresenius GranuFlo/NaturaLyte Dialysate Litigation) before Judge Douglas P. Woodlock.
